Black Tatoos
by Bean of the Day
Summary: Fil is very, very ordinary, as far as Capitol citizens go. She hasn't got any tattoos, her skin isn't pink, she doesn't go to parties. When her mother buys her an avox, a tall, handsome avox, all that changes. Fil is still ordinary, but this time with a very extraordinary, very illegal secret. Rated T, because I have no idea how the rating system works.
1. Chapter 1

**Hullo! So. This is my first fan fiction. So if it's terrible, please forgive me. Its not actually about any of THG characters, so its sorta cheating ^^. I tried to do some fan fic with the real characters. But it's too hard **

**I don't own anything and stuff. I wish.**

As usual, mother was talking fast and animatedly. The ringlets on her diamante threaded wig bounced and flashed as she told me of the scandal at Bee Grace's party the night before. Mother did not talk with her hands. She talked with her whole body. Her head, which she constantly nodded as if agreeing with herself, her feet, which tapped in her pointed boots, her hips, which swayed and bounced with every rare pause for breath and her hands, which she swung about as if trying to swat away something whizzing around her head. I had been swatted by those flying hands enough times to learn not to stand within a metre of her when she was telling one of her stories.

"But, Felecia, darling, you really MUST come out more!"

I started at the sound of her voice. She wasn't talking about a scandal anymore. Unfortunately she had launched into another one of her "you are NEVER going to find yourself a man if you don't get out once in a while" lectures.

"Mother, no-one calls me Felicia anymore. My name is Fil." I said, trying to change the topic.

"I named you Felicia, and I shall call you Felicia. Now, as I was saying, there is this highly anticipated doo coming up next Tuesday and…"

I rolled my eyes and tuned out, concentrating on the diamonds implanted in my mother's eyelids, that flashed every time she blinked.

After what seemed a million years of plans for parties and empty promises to attend them, mother finally left. I breathed out a sigh of relief and, kicking off the extraordinarily uncomfortable pointy toed shoes I owned especially for mothers visits, plodded back into my lounge. I ripped the fluffy gold coverings, and the matching pillows from all the chairs, revealing the mismatched block colours underneath. The horrific gold things were thrown into a cupboard and my treasured newspaper print pillows were returned to their rightful places. The swirly embroidered rug was thrown into the cupboard with the chair covers, along with the sparkly curtains and all the other 'fashionable' stuff that disguised all the furniture my mother would hate, which was practically everything in the room. I flopped on to my favourite purple easychair and switched on the ceiling to floor television that dominated one of my ever changing walls. These walls were the reason I loved my flat so much. Their colour, texture and pattern could all be changed with the press of a button. For mothers visits they were dimmed to windows, revealing the sparkling Capitol of Panem. I kept one wall as the mirror and the other two on my favourite setting, a very slow fade from blue, to green, to yellow, to orange, to red, to purple, then back to blue. On my huge TV, a sparkly skinned, blue haired reporter was reading the daily news

"Thank you, Kai, for that fascinating report on what's hot in noses." She was saying in her Capitol voice. "A young Capitol citizen was arrested today, after trying to smuggle an avox into a freight train heading to district 2."

A photo of the man, who in my opinion was very brave, flashed onto the screen. His skin was naturally tanned, and his hair was straight and dark red. He had black tattoos snaking around his eyes, down his jaw and under his shirt. He was strong looking, with a cocky grin. The photo was gone and the reporter was back on the screen.

"The 23 year old man, who used to reside in flat 78, in the Killroy Building, on 34th street" I looked up at the screen. My friend Joey lived in that building. The woman was still talking.

"… Will be made an avox at 7pm this evening. The avox he was caught trying to rescue will be executed." That seemed harsh.

"The newly turned avox will go up for auction at 8 pm tonight, so be sure to turn your televisions to channel 109, and have your phones at the ready. Onto other news now, the 49th Annual Hunger Games is fast appro..." I switched the TV off, cutting the reporter off midsentence.

Almost immediately my phone started chirping. I pressed answer and the room was filled with my mother's voice

"FELICA, DARLING, DID YOU WATCH THE NEWS?" Mother had a habit of yelling into her phone.

"Mother, don't yell! Yes I did watch the news" I responded

"Oh. Well. That avox boy, I am going to buy him for you! That way you can get out more! People won't think that you're so strange! Yes, it's a brilliant plan. It can be a early birthday present and…"

"MOTHER! I do don't WANT an avox. I don't NEED an avox. Do NOT get me an avox!"

"Nonsense darling. Right, expect him at your place tomorrow"

"Mu-" But she hung up before I could say anything.

I swore under my breath. I really DID not want an avox.

**Ok well. Was it terrible, was it not? Please please PLEASE review **** I will write more soon. Ok so thanks 3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hullo! To those who read and reviewed my story, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! You were really nice! **

**In the previous chapter I made a bit of a silly mistake. I wrote that she kept one of her walls as a mirror but it was supposed to be window. So just to clarify, she has three colourful walls, a huge telly and a huge window.**

**(By the way, the chapter starts off being narrated by Fil, then by the avox)**

**Still don't own anything.**

Chapter 2

For some reason I felt like I had an old friend coming to visit, not the delivery man and my new slave. I was frantically trying to get ready before he arrived. As I was plumping my pillows for the millionth time, the doorbell rang. I ran to the door, breathed out and opened the door.

_dashdashdashdashdashdashdash_

The last 24 hours had been pure hell.

I was so close to getting him out, so close to freeing him from the life that I was now being forced into. He was dead. I was a slave. My tongue was gone, along with my ability to speak. All I had left was an emptiness in my mouth, and consuming guilt.

A pair of rough hands yanked me out of the pitch black truck boot. The sunlight, reflecting off the mirrored walls of the huge tower on front of me, sent black dots flying into my vision. So this was it. My new home. Well, at least it was sparkly. The peacekeeper pushed me through the door.

"Move avox" He snarled. I moved. We went into an elevator, and I couldn't help but smile just a little as the glass box flew up the shaft. The peacekeeper yanked me to an apartment. He rang the bell. After a minute, the door flew open, revealing a girl, about my age.

"Hi! Um, you must be Jove? I spoke to you on the phone this morning! Right come in please, um would you like a drink? Something to eat perhaps?" She talked very fast, her hand fluttering by her sides.

The peacekeeper, Jove apparently, grunted, "I best be on my way. Here he is, I'm sure you have been informed of his rules."

She nodded vigorously.

"And you have the information booklet?"

More nodding

"Call us if you need any help"

Jove seemed to have a soft spot for fluttery women. He certainly wasn't this nice to me! Or maybe it was because she wasn't an avox. That was more likely.

The women showed the peacekeeper to the door and finally the rough man who had been my guard for the last few days was gone.

The women, my owner, turned around, leant against the door and looked at me. So this is when the real hard work begins, I thought. Despite her un-menacing demeanour, I was still very wary. It's the gentle looking ones that work you the hardest. My sister always came across as the sweetest women in Panem, but her avoxes were the hardest worked, without a doubt.

The woman was still staring at me with a slightly scared expression. She was pretty, I suppose, but unnaturally natural. Her short, layered hair was deep blue fading to a bluish green, and her ears were slightly pointed, but other than that, she was pretty uninteresting looking. Her eyes were dark, her nose was ordinary, she had no interesting tattoos, or piercings, just a nose stud and a few earrings.

Her makeup was interesting enough, her eyes lined with black, then with the same gradient as her hair. Her eyelashes were long and dark, tipped with a small amount of sparkly blue. The same sparkle flashed around her eyes and along her cheekbones. Her lips were also painted blue, the colour getting darker as they neared the centre of her slightly uneven lips. But she was no exotic beauty. Just colourful.

Finally she spoke;

"Um my names Felecia, but everyone calls me Fil. Um I don't really know how this works, I have never had an avox before" She said, fast and soft. So I was her first avox. Even worse.

"My apartment is small, and I live here alone. The only people who come over are my two friends and my mother. There isn't much to do. Honestly, I didn't actually want you, but my mother bought you and you can't say no to my mother, so um yeah you're here now. But I don't want a slave" She said, her eyes fixated on my prison issue shoes. Doesn't want a slave? She glanced up at my face and I raised an eyebrow at her. A flush of pink invaded her sparkly cheeks.

"I'll show you to my room, I mean your room" She stuttered, the pink darkening to red, as she slipped passed me. I was plain right confused now. I thought avoxes had quarters in the kitchen or basement, not their own room! I followed Fil down her photograph lined passageway. This was turning out more interesting than I expected…

**So… whaddya think? I think chapter one was better, but what are your opinions? Please review! The encouragement is so… encouraging! And any constructive criticism or whatever is more than welcome. (Also feel free to follow :P)**


	3. Chapter 3

_We were running, our bare feet silently hitting the cold, gravely ground. Ahead of us was a barbed wire fence. We clamoured over it, him first, them me. On the other side was long grass, wet with dew. In the distance I could see an approaching train, its distant headlights like the eyes of a cat. I turned to him and smiled. He smiled back. He was still smiling when he hit the ground._

_Cold, white lights lit the train tracks, blinding me and the whirring of a hovercar whistled in my ears. I could hear yelling, our shouts intertwined. Another voice joined the chorus, calling my name, but this one was softer, sweeter. Slowly the new voice sharpened, blocking out the chaos around me._

My eyes flung open, my arms and legs tangled in sheets, my heart pounding

"Hey, hey, Jaykob. Shhh" It was the soft, sweet voice. I looked up at its owner. A girl with blue hair and black eyes and plain features blinked back down at me. I opened my mouth to say her name, but the word tripped over the stump of my tongue and came out as a pathetic gurgle.

Fil giggled, and then was silent, grimacing apologetically. I grinned at her, and she burst into loud peals of laughter. She snorted when she laughed. Finally she calmed down, wiping a tear from her eye.

"I'm sorry, that was insensitive. It's just, you sound like a baby" she said, and giggled again.

I just raised my eyebrows at her. She stood up and walked to my door.

"Well, I don't think I'll be falling back asleep to quickly, what about you?" She asked. I shook my head, swinging my legs from my bed, knotted sheets and all. She smiled and walked to her lounge with me just one step behind.

We sat on her mismatched sofas, looking at the sunrise soaked city through the window.

"I got you something before you came, so we could talk." She said, handing me a little white box. I opened it and took out a small, square screen and a pen.

"You write what you want to say on the screen and it says it for you. It also has a fold out keyboard, you just need to press the button on the side." She said, motioning to the row of buttons of the side of the device. I pressed the top button and the screen lit up. And sure enough a little keyboard slid out the bottom of the screen when I pressed the next button. I picked up the pen and wrote 'this is so cool, thanks' on the screen. The machine read out what I had written in a robotic female voice with a heavy capitol accent. We both giggled at the strange sounding voice.

"You can change the voice in settings if you want. It's the only one of its kind; I ordered it from district 3." Fil said.

"Thank you so much, I can speak again, sort of" Said the robotic voice.

"What are you going to name it?" She asked me. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"It deserves a name, seeing as it will be doing all your talking!" She said indignantly.

"Fine. I'll call the device Agent Voicebox. This voice will be called Floss." I wrote onto the machine. She nodded, satisfied.

We spent the next hour laughing at Agent Voicebox's voices. I finally chose a slightly accented male voice, which sounded a little bit like my voice used to. His name was Cas. Sitting on the sofa, laughing at funny accents with Fil was the first time I felt happy since that night at the train tracks.

Fil

I woke up at noon, my neck stiff from sleeping on the sofa. Jaykob was still snoring softly, his arm draped softly across my hips. My face flooded with heat when I realised I was lying curled up on the sofa with my head on his lap. As delicately as I could, I slipped out from under his arm and stood up, stretching out my cramped muscles.

I padded to the kitchen, thinking of the initial awkwardness that came with my avox. The first few hours were excruciating, it was a huge relief when bedtime came and I could shut myself in my room.

As silently as I could, as not to wake Jaykob, I started making breakfast. My mind wondered to his guttural, choking yells that had yanked me out of a dream involving cats and nose rings. His dreams must have been to do with the avox he tried to rescue, I thought.

Jaykob stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. His hair was mussed and his shirt crumpled. It suddenly occurred to me how good looking he was. I looked away, heat rising into my cheeks.

"Smells good" Said Jaykob or, rather, Cas.

I grinned, and told him to sit, plonking down a plate of steaming eggs on front of him. He ate very fast, shovelling massive bites of food down his throat.

"You look like you haven't eaten in days!" I laughed

Wiping his hands on his pants, Jaykob typed "I haven't. I would say it tastes good, but…"

I gaped at him. "You mean this is your first meal since you got caught?!" I yelped "Why didn't you say anything!  
He just rolled his eyes at me and continued to shovel down eggs. I sat down with my own breakfast, staring at him in disgusted astonishment.

Mother called me that evening, firing non-stop questions about Jaykob, or as she called him, "Your new avox boy."

"Mother I have told you, he's fine, a good worker!" I finally snapped

"Well sor-ry. Now, I called to tell you that we are going to a party tomorrow night. I'll send over some catalogues. A team of stylists will be at your place tomorrow morning, and I expect you to have a date!" She slammed the phone down and almost immediately my letter box pinged. I brought the catalogues from the letter boxes onto the window screen. I flicked through the dresses, trying to find at least one that was wearable. The catalogue was full to the brim with frills and scales and ridiculous skirt sizes.

"That one's nice" Said Cas/Jaykob, making me jump. I looked at the dress he was talking about. It was black with a low neck and a wide skirt that fell mid-thigh. It was covered in silver beading and sequins and had silver ribbons lacing up its back.

"I guess" I said, transferring the dress onto a photo of me. It did look quite nice.

"Whatever, the dress is not the main point! I have to have a date!" I said, pulling anxiously at my clothes.

"Don't you have a boyfriend?" Cas/Jaykob asked

I shook my head, racking my brain for any friends who would pose as my date.

"I'll be your date." I stared at him. "I don't see why not" Jaykob shrugged.

"You're an avox… anyway mum knows you!" I said.

"I'll wear a wig and cover up my tattoos" Cas/Jaykob said.

I started to protest, but I realised that I really didn't have any other choice.

"Fine, but I hope you realise we are both dead if anyone ever finds out!" I said, clomping out of the room, the sound of his strange, guttural laugh following me.


	4. Chapter 4

**Fil**

We stood outside the tall white doors, listening to the muffled music and chattering. I looked over at Jaykob, whose black tattoos had been covered and replaced by delicate white stripes, and long hair had been cut and dyed silver. He was grimacing at the marble doors, nervously pulling at the sleeves of his suit. I reached for his fidgeting hand, slipping my fingers through the spaces between his. He looked over at me, his eyes wide and nervous. I smiled and reminded him that this was his idea in the first place. I breathed out and reached for the massive doorbell. I had hardly touched the button when the doors were flung open by a blonde avox girl. I heard Jaykob gulp and she led us to a huge, curtain lined room. Men and women with ridiculous hair and extravagant clothes danced around the centre of the floor, and loitered by the sagging food tables. I heard my mother before I saw her.

"Fileeeeciaaaaaa daarrrrrrrling" She slurred and she clip clopped towards us in impossibly high stilettoes, bubbling champagne slopping out of the flute of she held in her taloned hand. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Mother, meet Niko" I said, indicating towards Jaykob. I relaxed a bit, she was much to intoxicated to realise that 'Niko' was, in fact, my freshly purchased avox boy.

"Hello dear. Aren't you a cutie pie! Ooooh and look at you two, you match" She squealed, poking the silver beading on my dress. I sighed, and shooed my giggling mother back onto the dance floor, where she joined a stumbling pink haired man, who had undergone a few to many session with a plastic surgeon.

Jaykob raised his eyebrows at me.

"Tell me about it" I said, pulling him toward the food table.

A few drinks later and Jaykob and I were starting to enjoy ourselves. I couldn't stop laughing as he twirled me around the dance floor, my vision slightly blurred and my feet aching. The band were playing fast dance music, the floor vibrating and the air thickening, as they party got crazier. Nearly every single guest was on the dance floor, and Jaykob and I found ourselves in the middle of a hot, heaving group. The blind dancers around us closed in, forcing us together, until we were touching. His arms slipped around my waist and I instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck. Suddenly the room got even warmer, and my corset seemed to grow tighter, forcing what little breath I had out of my lungs. My stomach flipped over and my heart was beating faster than it had ever beaten before. Jaykob looked down at me, his intense eyes making me blink. It was like in one of my cheesy romance novels; the band, and dancing bodies and all that surrounded us melted away until all that was left was the blue of his eyes, and then nothing.

I woke up on my sofa, a concerned Jaykob leaning over me. His hair was mussed and his tie untied, and the small crease between his bunched eyebrows made me smile, which then sent a sharp pang through my brain.

"Are you ok?" Jaykob/Cas said.

"I think so," I groaned, rubbing my forehead. "What happened?"

It was his turn to smile now.

"I don't think you can handle champagne very well." Jaykob/Cas said.

I frowned at him, which just made him smile harder. Before I could move, he had set down Agent Voicebox and his arms slipped under me and then he was carrying me. I squealed and giggled as he walked towards my room. My vision was still slightly blurry and my thoughts were clouded and slow. We staggered into my room, my giggles turning to uncontrollable laughter that shook my entire body, making him lurch and swerve, until we both fell onto my bed. It was only then when I was aware of how very close we were. Jaykob had fallen onto his back, his arms still around me. I was curled on top of his chest, my nose nearly touching his. My laughter stopped, halted by the startling softness of his usually hard eyes. They were almost scared, like the way they looked when she had woken him from his nightmare, but less wild.

"Jaykob" I barely whispered. His eyes flickered from mine to my lips and back again.

He leaned forward, his eyes never leaving mine. My heart started to beat fast again, and I could feel his heart, pounding against my ribs, matching the pace. His lips barely grazed mine, before he gasped, and, in one single, fluid movement, flipped over, untangled himself from me, leapt up and ran out of my room, leaving me breathless, my lips tingling where his had touched them.

**Jaykob**

_You stupid, stupid man _I thought, hitting my forehead with a bubble encased hand. I was lying in Fil's large bathtub, up to my chin in hot, foamy water. The steam had melted away the white stripes and the water had leeched all the cover up from my skin, revealing the familiar black tattoos that winded down my torso before tapering off at my hips. Though the makeup was gone, the memories still clung, vibrant behind my closed lids. The smells of the party, the taste of the food, the sensation of the bubbling wine in my throat, but mostly it was Fil who I remembered. Her exuberant smile as we had danced, the light bouncing from her sparkling lashes, the shape of her waist beneath my hands, the speed of her heart and the feel of her lips during that fleeting moment you could hardly call a kiss. I had panicked. _You stupid, idiotic, pathetic excuse for a man, _I thought, standing up and stepping out of the tub.

I walked down the passage, hesitating at Fil's bedroom door. I pressed my ear against it, and heard the unmistakable sound of breathing, slow and asleep. The door creaked as I pushed it open, making me wince. Fil was lying on her bed, still in her dress, though the stays were undone, and her bare back was visible through the loosely tied ribbons. I crept into the room as quietly as possible and gently pulled the tousled blanket from under Fil, before draping it over her and, looking over at her sleeping form one more time, left. The feeling of calm that has appeared the second I saw Fil was quickly replaced by a sinking sensation in my stomach. It was too late, I was far too gone to turn back now.

**I read too many cheesy romances**


End file.
